


Wait for Me

by puptart



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombies, BOTH, Gender-Neutral Runner Five, Other, POV Third Person, Racing or flirting?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puptart/pseuds/puptart
Summary: Who could be fast enough to keep up with Sara Smith? Who would she slow down for?
Relationships: Runner Five/Sara Smith
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Wait for Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crownleys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crownleys/gifts).



> God I wrote this over a YEAR ago for my darling Emma (crownleys on tumblr). I found it the other night when she reminded me of it, and I spruced it up a bit to post here. We love 5ara in this house.
> 
> For those who don't know, Ren is Emma's Runner Five! They're agender and go by they/them.

It’s dark, and cold. Stars still shine in the sky, but they’re beginning to wink sleepily, ready to let the sun take over their work. If the horizon were visible through the treeline it would surely be blushing faintly, but on this trail there’s no sign of the coming day yet. It’s dark, and cold, but this is when Ren does their best work. 

Exhaling harshly, they stand to their full height, and stare through the cloud of their breath at the hard packed dirt trail ahead. It’s hard to make themself do the warm up stretches, each minute longer than the last, their muscles begging to be put to their real use, but they do it anyway. They count each stretch, each knee kick, each jumping jack, and then repeat the process until every muscle and ligament is warmed up. Delayed gratification is the best sort, after all. 

They wait until the fog of their breath clears, staring dead ahead, shoes digging into the dirt before they burst forward. A thrill races up and down their spine, heart pounding with the cadence of a galloping race horse. Ren runs and runs, legs pumping, muscles burning. Sweat rolls down their face despite the cold, but they’re only 2k in at this point in the trail. Much as they love a good sprint, they slow down to a steadier pace. 

It’s once they do that they’re able to hear a distant beat of someone else behind them running. Other runners out at this hour isn’t _unheard_ of, but at this point Ren knows exactly who it is just based on the pattern of footfalls. They don’t slow any further to wait though; they don’t have to. 

“Morning there, Ren,” Sara says, loping up beside them and slowing enough to keep pace at their side. She’s not even breathing hard yet, despite having just run fast enough to catch up with them. 

“Sara,” they say, a grin splitting their face. They don’t really mean to, but they can hardly help it. Their heart seems to forget its purpose when Sara is around, stumbling over itself like a newborn foal. 

“You’re behind today,” she says, chiding them playfully. “You’re never going to tie with me at this rate.”

“Oh, I’m going to do better than,” Ren says, brimming with confidence. “I’m going to _win_.”

Sara grins sharply, reminding them for all the world of a glinting blade in the near black of the running trail. That same thrill from before strikes again. 

“Prove it then.”

Not another word passes between them at that. Their eyes lock for an electrifying moment before they both launch themselves down the trail with all they have.

It’s a close thing, the two of them running nearly side by side almost the whole way. When one of them pulls ahead, the other is quick to overtake them before falling back in line. The distance is eaten fast by their game, the beginning of the trail (or the ending, from this side) coming far too soon. Ren holds their lead as long as they can, their lungs burning as they push themself faster and faster, gaining enough distance that they think _this time for sure!_

In the end, Sara bounds ahead, running like her feet don’t even need to touch the ground. She flies forward, ponytail swishing teasingly as she goes, passing the sign that points to the restrooms which they use as their marker, and continuing on down the trail like it’s nothing. Ren keeps pushing until they pass the sign too, at which point they slow back into a jog, gasping for breath. 

Laughing with all the force of a gale, Sara runs in place ahead until they catch up. 

“Nice try, Ren,” she says, grinning victoriously. Ren feels their competitiveness rising up inside, a burning desire to prove themself to her. 

Together they come to a stop and start doing their cooldown stretches in a silence that crackles through the air. Sara bounces a tennis ball she produces from her pocket, giving them a wicked sort of grin before sitting herself down to shove it under her hamstring. Ren sticks to touching their toes for the moment. As Sara presses her weight down on the tennis ball, she hisses at first, the pain always bright and piercing when working out a knotted muscle. From there though, once it passes, she relaxes. Ren watches as her face goes lax, head practically lolling against her shoulder as her mouth parts and she groans at the relief. 

Ren’s burning desire returns in full force as the sun rises up behind Sara, setting her on fire, casting her in a golden haze that leaves them utterly enraptured. They can’t help but stare like a fool, lips parted. 

Sara glances at them, too sharp, too knowing. Wetting her lips, she meets Ren’s gaze head on with a smirk, like she knows what they’re thinking. Despite the chill in the air, Ren goes warm all over. 

But then she lifts a hand to brush a lock of hair from her face, and the light glints off her wedding ring. The reflection slices through Ren, and their heart pounds as they look away, pretending they just need switch positions for their next stretch.

Even the reminder of Sara’s family, her husband and sons, isn’t enough to truly deter Ren, and Sara’s well aware that such a display is hardly going to do more than stop them from actually _acting_ on their feelings. 

Not that Ren _would_ act on their feelings, of course, but… neither are they giving up on them. Even if they wanted to, their feelings have made no indication of giving up either, despite the time that has passed. They are fully head over heels in love with Sara Smith, and that isn’t changing anytime soon. 

By the way she’s still looking at them when they finally stand and offer her a hand up, Ren is pretty sure she knows. She says nothing though, save a jaunty, “Thanks, Ren,” when she takes their hand and lets them haul her up to her feet. They loosen their grip on her to let their hand fall to their side, but Sara holds tight. For a long, long moment their hands stay palm to palm, Sara giving them a steady look. This time, they just look back, trying to read her and failing utterly.

“...Good run today, Ren,” Sara says, releasing them at long last. Ren’s arm tingles like they’ve been holding onto a live wire. 

“You too.”

They head to their cars together, side by side, shivering by the time they hit asphalt. Sara sighs, digging around for her keys.

“I suppose I ought to be getting home,” she says. Ren bumps her hip with theirs. 

“Sounds like you don’t want to.”

“I don’t,” Sara says dryly. “I love my boys, but they are hellions when it comes to getting them up and dressed for school.”

Ren chuckles; it’s far from the first time they’ve heard this. “Why not get your husband to do it?”

“Because I do mornings, and he does evenings,” Sara says. “And they’re worse at bedtime.”

“Maybe just this once he’d do it?” Ren asks. Sara gives them a sidelong glance.

“Why so keen on it?”

“We could get breakfast together,” Ren says. 

Sara actually looks tempted, her mouth pressed into a tight line as she considers it. With a sigh, she shakes her head. “No. Sorry, Ren.”

“I get it,” they say, shrugging easily even as their heart falls into their shoes. Knowing the answer they’d get doesn’t stop them from desperately hoping to hear the one they want. 

“Ah, Ren,” Sara sighs, coming to a stop at her car. She gives them a conflicted look. “I can’t.”

“I get it,” Ren repeats, not really wanting to hear her tell them this isn’t going anywhere. They know. They _know_. Even if there is _nothing_ between Sara and her husband anymore, even if Sara has confided in them her dissatisfaction with her marriage a dozen times, they know she doesn’t take her commitment lightly. 

As they turn to leave, discontent but resigned to their fate, Sara suddenly seizes them by the arm, very nearly dragging them back to her.

“Ren,” Sara says with a note of urgency. “Will you wait for me?”

“What?” Ren asks, turning to face her. Sara readjusts her grip, holding them tight.

“Our next training day,” Sara says. “Will you wait for me before you start?”

“Why? You’ll just catch up,” Ren says, confused by this sudden request. Sara shakes her head, giving a harsh, exasperated sigh. 

“Will you wait for me?” she asks again, enunciating every word, like Ren hadn’t heard her the first two times. 

They don’t really know what to make of this, she doesn’t make sense, but… They find themself trapped in her gaze again, the intense burn of it, the _meaning_ that they feel but don’t understand. 

“No,” Ren says. Sara blinks, then wilts. Ren gives her a smirk of their own. “You’ll have to catch me.”

Sara lets out a short huff. “I always do.”

“Can you be so sure you’ll always be able to?” Ren asks, arching a brow. “You never know, I might leave you in my dust eventually.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be able to,” Sara says. Her voice goes soft. “But you’ll wait for me.”

“...Yeah, I will.” Ren admits, shaking their head with a smile. They can’t help themself. Even if they could outpace Sara, they’d want her by their side enough to wait. 

“I’ll see you Sunday then?” Sara asks, letting them go. Ren nods.

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you at the sign.”

“That’s my Ren.” Sara throws them a wink, then goes around to the drivers’ side of her car, and slides in. 

Ren watches her for a moment, then shakes their head and jogs off to their own car, still wondering what in the world Sara wants them to _wait_ for. 

No matter. Whatever her reason, Ren is content to follow Sara’s lead.


End file.
